Who caught the eye in defeat at the DRF?

Horses to follow after Dublin Racing Festival including Cheltenham Festival tips and clues

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sat February 10, 2024 · 10M ago

Our Racing Podcast panel pick out the horses from the Dublin Racing Festival they believe will pay their way in the coming weeks.

Graham Cunningham - MAJBOROUGH (Willie Mullins)

I'm not sure how deep that Grade 1 juvenile race was on the Saturday and they all finished in a bit of a heap. Willie Mullins had the first four home with Kargese beating Storm Heart and Majborough third. The latter is a horse I didn't know a great deal about beforehand, but I think we'll hear plenty of him in the next few months and even the longer-term. He's a big, very good-looking horse and considering this was his first run in Ireland, I thought he ran ab absolute belter, jumping well and just done for a bit of speed late on. I'm not sure what they'll do with him because there are plenty of options but I'm sure he's going to win races.

Ben Linfoot - FEET OF A DANCER (Paul Nolan)

I thought Feet Of A Dancer ran well, she placed in third in the mares' handicap hurdle on Sunday. She was flat to the boards the whole way but showed a really nice attitude and her trainer says he'll be stepping her back up in trip in the spring. Maybe not at Cheltenham but she could go for something at Fairyhouse or Punchestown and over two and a half miles I think she might have a nice handicap in her. She's definitely one to watch.

WATCH the full show below as our team talk DRF, Cheltenham Festival and this weekend's highlights...

Billy Nash - ABSURDE and ETHICAL DIAMOND

Ethical Diamond caught my eye in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle. He was very disappointing at Christmas when he was sent off a short-priced favourite but they rode him totally differently at the DRF - they dropped him right out. If you were being critical you'd say he was given too much to do but I really like the way he finished out his race. He's still a novice so it's interesting to see what they'll do with him. It's quite likely he'll run in the Triumph and the Grade 1 at Punchestown and if he's good enough to pick up one of those races then all well and good, if not then he'll make a lovely novice for next year. The other horse, who ran in the same colours, was Absurde, who finished fourth to Ballyburn in the 2m novice hurdle. I thought that was a nice performance by him, with a view to something like the County Hurdle in mind. He's now had his four runs over hurdles and on better ground you'll see a better horse.

David Johnson - GAOTH CHUIL and PANDA BOY

Two from the same race for me and they both ran in the three-mile handicap hurdle on the Saturday. The first is runner-up Gaoth Chuil, who was the only one to get involved from off the pace and had to come really wide as well to do so. I was impressive with how well she moved into the race, she might be even better on quicker ground as well. It was a good trial for the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham and she's already qualified for that race having won one of the qualifiers at Christmas so she's really interesting. The other is the fourth Panda Boy, who I think will be going back over fences sooner rather than later. He made a mistake three-out and got badly tapped for toe there but he's rallied really strongly and was looking stronger the better he went. He shaped well in the Irish Grand National last year and he's got an entry at Aintree this year. He's on my shortlist so I hope he makes the cut.

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